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The Homebrew Channel: ugly GUI

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For various reasons I've not felt the need to mod my Wii up to now. There would have been a few advantages - being able to play my American and Japanese GameCube games, importing US games that didn't get released here, backing up some of the saves for games that don't allow copying.  But these advantages were outweighed by the idea that it was a difficult process and would make my Wii behave oddly.

I now have a bit more impetus to do this. I don't want to replace my Wii with the Wii U completely, for various reasons - GameCube support, Lost Winds not transferring, an extra step needed to get to the Wii menu. However, there are now benefits to moving data to the Wii U, including a cheap upgrade price for the various Virtual Console games I've bought.  If Nintendo had a proper account system in place this wouldn't be an issue; I could just transfer the games I'm interested in. They don't; I have to move everything across or nothing at all.

However, by modding the Wii I am able to have the stuff I've bought in both places; back up the system before transferring, transfer, restore from backup. I can continue to use my Wii for playing Wii games, but can pay the upgrade price for Super Mario World.

It wasn't a difficult process at all. I followed the guide here, and it took twenty minutes all in, from plugging the sensor bar in (as this moves between the Wii U and the Wii) to looking through the Homebrew Browser. The Homebrew Channel has a nice channel icon and a pleasant enough background, but as soon as you start installing anything else you quickly see why companies pay people so much for graphic design. Some of this software is very ugly indeed.

So first stage complete: I have a modded Wii and have it backed up to an SD card.  All I need to do now is to transfer my data and then restore it back to the Wii as well.  And then work out how to make everything region-free.

Stuff I’ve been playing recently

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Or the “can’t be bothered with lots of posts” post. Woo!

Super Mario World (Wii U)

Bought this on the Wii U VC as an upgrade to the Wii VC version I have. It is, as it always was, fantastic. But much harder than I recall. Losing it in my old age! I have managed to clear the forest though, so I’m what, half way? A bit further than half way? Something like that.

Kirby’s Adventure (Wii U)

Oh no! 50Hz! I have no way of telling! Good job someone else pointed it out so I could be angry! That aside, Kirby’s Adventure is also still excellent fun. Yeah, it’s one of the easiest games in all creation (well, except for Where’s Waldo on the Megadrive, obviously), but that matters this much: not at all. Just about to complete Butter Building.

Crimson Shroud (3DS)

I have no idea what I’m doing. Still. At three hours in I’d have hoped I’d at least understand the game by now, but I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m supposed to be doing, so I’m aimlessly wandering round all the locations I’ve been in already in the hope I’ll stumble across the next bit I’m supposed to do. I like the game, and the combat is lovely, I’m just… lost.

Zen Pinball 2 (Wii U)

I bought some more tables as they were on offer. I’ve tried them all (some of which I already have on the 3DS or the 360), and none of them are bad. The Avengers table is probably my favourite though. The high score tables seem oddly empty amongst my friends though, even though some I’m sure have some of the tables. One guy even shows up twice on one table, with one of his scores being identical to mine – which I find highly unlikely. Server issues, maybe.

Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins (3DS)

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With the Wii U version all done and dusted (well, done at least – even with 100% it’s still fun to play), it was time to start the 3DS prequel. Although I knew it wasn’t going to be as good, I hoped it would still be well worth playing.

And it is! Hurrah!

Sure, it’s cut down. There’s a much shorter draw distance, sections of the main map load in rather than stream fluidly, the controls aren’t quite as good (swapping character, in particular), and it is mostly played out in the same areas as the Wii U game – only much of the city is still under construction so there’s bits missing and no train, but it still stands out as a great game.

Unlike the Wii U game, there aren’t any “separate” missions (“Special Assignments”, as the Wii U game calls them) set in areas not accessible in the main map. Almost all of the game (so far, at least), bar a handful of small interior sections, are played out on the open world map. In terms of both area and things to do the game is much smaller than its big brother. I’ve spent about 10 hours on it so far and am around 30% complete, so it’s still pretty big with plenty to find. That 30% sets me just after rescuing Natalia’s dad, for what it’s worth.

In fact, the only real disappointments are that all the disguises you find are the same as those in the Wii U version (although some work slightly differently), and the lack of voice acting for the majority of the game – it’s only there in cutscenes, and even then absent from most of them. A real shame, as they made for much of the humour of the Wii U title. Oh! And no Frank Honey :(

With retrospect, I’d say you’d get more from the 3DS game if you played it before playing the Wii U one. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with The Chase Begins, but compared to the “original” it’s obviously pared down. Play the 3DS version first, however, and you’d see it that the Wii U version was a built-up improvement. You’d get the story in chronological order then too, not that it really matters.

Whatever though – it is definitely worth playing.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U)

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I’ve had this for a little while now, but for some reason I’ve not made any posts about it. I’d decided to buy the game, expensive as it was (£50!) directly from the Nintendo eShop. I thought it would benefit from always being installed rather than having to find the disc when I wanted to play, and given how much time I ploughed into the Wii version (Monster Hunter Tri) I thought £50 was still going to be value for money.

Either that or I had a funny five minutes.

Sure, I’m generally against the prices of eShop “retail” games, but the cheapest boxed copy I could find at the time was £44, so it wasn’t a massive saving. Then I found, just 24 hours after buying it, that Game did download vouchers for £42.99. Ah well, you live and learn.

How is the game, then? Well, excellent. I had two major issues with the Wii original – the controls (specifically the item selection during battle), and the inability to get certain items unless you played online. MH3U fixes both those problems, with item quick-select on the gamepad, and optional online. As much as I enjoyed it before, it’s far, far more accessible now. Which is A Good Thing.

That’s not all that’s new, though. Capcom have added some new monsters, areas and weapons too. I still went with a Great Sword though, same as before. I did consider trying something else, but only the Great Sword seemed “right” to me. I’m playing as a woman this time though, not that it really makes a difference.

Something I didn’t realise would matter so much is the improvement in the game’s graphics. They’re so much clearer that they make the game substantially easier. Enemies in the distance are more distinct – so you can see their “tells” better, and “gathering” areas (for mushrooms, mining, etc.) are far easier to spot. I even found two “secret” routes in the Deserted Island that I hadn’t seen before simply due to blur.

At the moment, I’m nearing how far in I got with the Wii game. I’ve not reached Tundra yet, but I’m way ahead in the sword improvement and armourcraft stakes – having full sets of both Rhenoplos and Jaggi armour. I never managed a full set of anything in MHT. I’ve not had a go at Barroth yet either, but I have defeated a Great Wroggi and several Arzuros – neither of which were in MHT.

I’m currently trying for full Ludroth armour, and mopping up a few remaining 2* quests and the rest of the 3* quests. Around 20 hours on the clock!

Super Mario 3D Land: gerrorf me cart!

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With Rhythm Thief finished, it's time to move on to a game that I've waited a while for. SM3DL had some great reviews but it came out at the same time as Mario Kart 7, and the latter won out.  I've been waiting to see this reduced somewhere; I finally found it in good condition second-hand for £20.

It being second-hand, it had some save games on there already. Two of the slots had been used by one person and one slot by another. They'd got as far as world 2 before deciding the game wasn't for them.

It was sad, deleting their profiles. Did they give up because it was too hard, they just didn't like the game? Maybe they were short of money. I was going to get rid of all their hard work with two button presses.


Bye, random girl.

As for the game? It's OK. The viewpoint can be confusing in places, the controls feel a little imprecise, and the level design doesn't feel hugely imaginative. It's fun, but it's not amazing.  I'm on world 3 now, and it feels a little light on content so far - there are few levels per world in particular.  It may get better.